photo projects

{this moment} - A new semi-regular Friday ritual I've been thinking about. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see. Happy Friday, friends!

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And that was that, the very beginning of the {this moment} project I started early in 2010, which makes it over five years old now. Just as I thought about starting it for a while before I did so, I've been thinking about ending it for a while before now. And this, right now, feels like the right time to finally do. It has been an absolute treat and pleasure to share a simple, quiet moment here with you each week, and even more of a pleasure has been visiting you in your spaces for that very same thing. I know connections have been made through the comments left here and conversations started, and I can't tell you how happy that makes me feel. I dearly hope this doesn't disappoint anyone. But for a while now I've been feeling like the very same thing that was happening, for me anyway, in sharing {this moment} postings, is now happening elsewhere. Mainly, I'm thinking of Instagram, where it's easy to share a simple thing like a special, ordinary moment's photo. Since that and the connection and conversation happens in that kind of space these days, I would love to have the space of five days in which to share more words and stories with you here on the blog. Let's call it the longer format shall we? Because, ahem, 400 words is a long format medium these days, yes? (Wink, wink. Says the lady who started a print magazine.) I hope you understand, and I hope you know how much these Friday connections have meant to me. Change is so good, and I'm excited about reclaiming Fridays and hope you will be too.

But first, a flash back to the very first {this moment} above. Oh, that photo brings back so much. There is my lovely Solstice Sofa that I adored then, and now lives in my library, still awaiting some repairs but perhaps now I am waiting for the kids to grow up and out just a little bit more before beginning such a task as that. I know that I was knitting my very Tea Leaves sweater in Madelinetosh. It ended up being far too big on me at the time, but thank goodness I held onto it, because there's a funny thing that happens to a Mama's body when she stops being pregnant and/or breastfeeding. Voila! The sweater now fits! Those baby toes. Oh, those baby toes! Or little lady toes, as the case may be. That's Adelaide - I would know those ankles of hers anywhere. I know that the sun streamed in the window of that old place right in that spot, and I can say with certainty that she's naked on that couch, lying in the sunspot on the velvet fabric of the couch, likely with Banjo the cat on her chest. Oh, we all miss that cat. Adelaide was four years old. And those floors - I loved the wide pine floors of that old house, and I walk through the rooms often in my mind - the place where three of my children were born, where they spent so much of their early years. But I also remember, looking at this photograph, that we were deep deep deep in the work of finding this place we are in now, this farm. And we had already had great disappointment in a few places that we were close to buying, but just didn't work out. How glad I am, in retrospect, that things worked out as they did. But I see in this picture, and in my face, a family that was happy and glad, but a house that was full and dreams that hadn't yet been realized.

May 29, 2015.

And today's moment. Those same ankles that I know anywhere, on my girl Adelaide, approaching ten years old now. This was a stop on a little road trip we took this week, just she and I.

So much a photograph tells us, yes?I enjoy so much sharing the combination of words and images here to tell our story. And I thank you for sharing yours!

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Something a little different today....a moment I want to remember from last summer. One of the last big family gatherings we had with my Nana, who we said goodbye to early this morning. I have so much more to say about the amazing woman who first taught me how to sew, knit, cook, and garden. But for today, I'm holding onto moments like this that we shared, and feeling so much gratitude for her long life and peaceful passing. All of it, a blessing.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Thanks for all the support you offered our lovely sponsors yesterday! And thanks to the sponsors for all their lovely updates and discounts offered! A quick note that the coupon code for Craft South has been fixed. And a head's up that my regular posting schedule for the coming days is a little funky, as we dive into celebrating this holiday. I'm posting my {this moment} today, and welcome you to do so anytime in the coming days if you'd like.

Whether or not you are celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, I wish all of you a most blessed day spent with those you love!

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{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

{this moment} ~ A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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Greetings! I'm Amanda Blake Soule - mother of five, author of three books on family creativity, and editor-in-chief of Taproot Magazine. I live with my family in an old farmhouse in Western Maine where we raise animals, grow vegetables and make lots of things. I write about it all here on the blog. Thank you for visiting!